Integrated Diagnostics launched officially today with more than $30 million in funding. A team of scientists and investors are behind the company, which was founded by renowned biotechnology innovator Leroy Hood. Integrated Diagnostics will focus on developing personalized and preventive diagnostics based on breakthroughs using genomic and proteomic technologies to identify organ-specific proteins. The company will be developing diagnostic tools to help patients and physicians detect disease in its earliest stages. Building on research from Hood, Jim Heath, and other scientists, Integrated Diagnostics is creating diagnostic tools and innovative biomarkers that will help define the coming transition to health care that is predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory.
Integrated Diagnostics will have access to Hood’s research at Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) investigating protein blood markers that can report on the physiological state of the body’s 50 major organs. His research uses genomic and proteomic techniques to identify blood proteins that are only synthesized in the organ of interest and then identifies subtle changes that result from disease or treatment. By monitoring concentrations of these proteins in the blood, disruptions in healthy function can be detected and traced back to the diseased organ. This work is based on the concept of a systems view of disease where pathophysiology arises from disease-perturbed networks of proteins, genes, and other molecules.
Through its research collaborations, Integrated Diagnostics possesses proprietary data on organ-specific proteins across a range of human organs. These protein panels are applicable to many diagnostic modalities including early detection of disease, stratification of disease types, and monitoring disease progression and recurrence. The company’s technology is applicable to a broad scope of diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.
InterWest Partners, a diversified venture capital firm, led the $30 million Series A financing for Integrated Diagnostics and was joined by The Wellcome Trust and dievini Hopp Biotech holding. dievini’s participation in the Series A financing is part of a collaboration with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which plans to become part of the investor group in the future. Integrated Diagnostics is the first commercial enterprise to emerge from a unique $200 million public-private partnership, announced in 2008, between the nation of Luxembourg and three American research institutions, including ISB. As part of the investment, Integrated Diagnostics will have access to research from the ongoing research collaboration in systems biology between Luxembourg and ISB, which also involves the development of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine.
Click here to access IVD Technology’s exclusive interview with Leroy Hood.
Tags: Collaboration, Finance
